He admitted in his My Booky Wook autobiography: “Sex is recreational for me,
as well as a way of accruing status and validation (even before I attained
the unique accolade of ‘Shagger of the Year’ from The Sun).”

The comedian added: “At one point I had a harem of about ten women, whom I
would rotate in addition to one-night stands and random casual encounters.

“But shagging — incessant as it was — no longer seemed to have the required
calming effect.

“I was on the brink of becoming sufficiently well known for my carnal
overindulgences — with lapdancers and prostitutes, to say nothing of all the
women who didn’t sell sex for a living — to cause me professional
difficulties.”

His marriage to Katy Perry ended after just 14 months amid rumours that the
comic had been unable to resist his womanising ways.

Straight after the split he started dating again — a string of beauties he
seems to mainly have met among the yoga mats of his LA exercise classes.

He ditched his latest girlfriend, American Isabella Brewster, earlier this
month after falling for Geri as they rehearsed for their performances at the
Olympics closing ceremony.

So what chance is there of a lasting love between bed-hopping Russell and the
allegedly neurotic, controlling, self-obsessed Geri?

It turns out the pair have more in common than just their shared rocky
history of relationships.

Both had tricky childhoods, growing up with their mums after their parents
divorced.

Geri, who was raised in Watford, remained very close to her dad, Laurence,
despite the break-up.

She has described him as a “womaniser and chancer” as well as a “liar and a
rogue” but was devastated by his sudden death from a heart attack in 1993,
when she was 21. She has said: “I felt gutted, angry, hurt, denied and
deprived. I felt robbed of something that was mine. He belonged to me.

“He was my biggest fan. I was alone and desperate.”

Within months of his death she was suffering the first bout of bulimia that
went on to plague her for years. She has also fought anorexia.

Russell, who grew up in Grays, Essex, has also struggled with bulimia — which
struck him for the first time when he was just 14 years old.

When he was eight his mother Barbara was struck down with cancer and for years
Russell was often shuffled off to live with relatives while his mum was
treated — successfully — for the disease. He only saw his dad Ron
sporadically — but according to his book, very memorably.

A trip to the Far East with his old man was the start of a bizarre awakening
that set the actor down the road to his chronic sex addiction.

He described in his book how his dad arranged for him to sleep with a Filipino
prostitute as a treat for his 16th birthday.

Russell made love to her while his dad had sex with two girls in the adjoining
room.

He wrote: “I stroked Mary-Lou’s hair and kissed her cheek and traced my finger
down her perfect nose, scored by the cacophony from the adjacent bedlam,
‘Yeah, come on!’ and ‘Phwooar, you’re juicy!’”

Both Russell and Geri have been in and out of therapy and each have also been
attracted to religion and spirituality.